


Photos and Storms

by cosmicfuss



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Rated T for language, mentions of Hunk/Shay - Freeform, mentions of Shiro/Matt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 07:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11778198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicfuss/pseuds/cosmicfuss
Summary: In which Lance just wanted to take photographs and the sky decided it wasn't going to happen so he runs into the broganes flower shop.





	1. Chapter 1

There was one thing in the world that Lance loved as much as photography.

Rain.

And if there was anything in the world that gave him more anxiety than taking a major test he didn't study for with his grade barely above a 60, it was trying to take pictures in the rain.

He had a nice camera, okay, it was completely warranted fear. If water messed up his camera it would take about a year to save up enough for another one and that would be a hell. A light drizzle, sure. A little scattered rain, alright. Thicker, fatter drops, eh maybe not. A downpour. _Fuck_ no.

And in the span of minutes he went from a sure to running into the nearest open building for cover.

Lance leaned against a wall, not taking in his surroundings quite yet, removing his lens and covering it up. He screwed the cover onto the base of the camera too, sighing in relief and giving mental thanks and praises to his thick sweatshirt that everything was dry.

"I will never forget the deed you have done for me, sweet sweet sweatshirt," Lance's shoulders sagged with relief, putting his lens in it's pocket.

"Hello? Did someone come in?" Lance's ears perked up at the sound of a man's voice, finally lifting his gaze to take in the store he'd dodged into.

It was bright and warm, plants lining every which way. There seemed to be a little of everything from florals to hostas to little bushes and tiny trees. Did downtown always have this place? Lance locked eyes with the man who'd spoken, thankful he'd put his lens away because he might've just dropped it.

"Hello? Hi, yeah, sorry I ducked in because of the rain!" Lance grinned, walking over to the counter. The man had warm eyes, kind but strong, and a gentle smile. He was quite a bit taller than Lance, but not so much as to tower above him. And god _damn_ was he hot.

"Well you're welcome to wait it out in here for as long as you'd like." The man grinned, then extended a- robotic, Lance noticed briefly- hand to shake and said, "Shirogane, you can just call me Shiro."

"Lance," he gave a cocky grin, "but you can call me whatever you want." Shiro smirked at this, giving a small chuckle.

"Okay, _whatever you want_. So is there anything I can get for you? I have a coffee machine in the back." Shiro didn't quite know what to make of the young man. He liked photography, going by the lensless camera around his neck, and seemed pleasant enough.

"Do you have any sugar?" Lance asked hopefully. Shiro nodded, a small grin on his face. He told Lance he'd be right back with two cups and headed to the back room. Like a lot of business downtown Shiro and his brother lived on the floor above their shop and he had to go up to grab the coffees.

"What's up? Slow day?" Keith asked from the den, watching a crime show on the TV.

"Nah, got a guy hiding from the rain." Shiro told him and Keith turned to face him, mild interest lining his features.

"And you came up to get coffees? Must be some dude." Keith rolled his eyes, returning them to the show.

"Yeah, photographer, nice, real cute." Shiro teased, letting the machine fill the cups. Keith huffed, arms crossed. Shiro tried to be a good big bro as much as he did a caretaker, something Keith very much didn't like at the moment.

"I'm not coming down to meet him." Keith muttered, almost bitter at the "photographer, nice, real cute" boy. He didn't need Shiro teasing him about the fact that he was better at socializing with said type of men. Sure, would it be cool to have a cute photographer flirt with him? Um, yeah of course it would, that was like Keith's number one goal. Or, y'know, have any boy flirt with him. That's cool too.

"Suit yourself, tough guy. If you change your mind, we'll be downstairs." Shiro suppressed his laughter as he headed back down, mugs in hands and container of sugar tucked into his elbow.

Lance's face lit up when Shiro came back, setting the coffees down on the counter.

"That would normally be, oh, $7.89 but just this once I can make an exception." Lance's grin matched Shiro's as he took the mug, dumping some sugar in to soften the harsh bite of bitterness. Lance could practically taste the strong coffee through his nose, knowing no amount of sugar would really be able to help this. God help this man.

"I thank you a great deal for that, seeing as I don't have much cash on me right now." Lance laughed, letting the heat warm his hands.

Shiro and Lance talked for a while, listening to the rain as it lightened for just a minute only to come back tenfold. Above them, Keith grew restless. It was still 5, they had another couple hours before it was officially time to close.

Shiro wouldn't kick the stranger out, would he? But then if he didn't would he bring him upstairs? _I shouldn't care, in fact I don't care. Whatsoever. At all_. Keith was a little curious to meet him.

If Shiro called the boy cute, Keith couldn't begin to imagine what he looked like. To date, Shiro had only called about four men cute, five now. He either had ridiculously high standards or insanely specific tastes and Keith really couldn't be sure which it was. Keith was a little more than a little curious.

"That's it, that is it! I'm gonna go down and see him myself just to prove to Shiro that he's the opposite of cute."

He tip-toed down the stairs, catching tidbits of conversation.

"…nd then, Bella took her by the pigtails and deadass spun her in a circle and threw her out! I couldn't believe it, really. My sweet baby girl, tossing her arch-nemesis to the trash like that. I've never been so proud."

"And she's the youngest, you said? I'd hate to see what her older sisters are like."

"Crazy. But I love 'em anyway."

Baby girl? The youngest? Did Shiro mistake a father of multiple children with someone Keith's age?

Then Keith lost his balance, stumbling into the open doorway. The stranger saw him first and, oh. Just _oh_. The guy wasn't even close to pretty, he was a fucking _masterpiece_.

He was an inch or two taller than Keith, smooth caramel skin and bright blue eyes, straight teeth and god I hope he isn't as straight as those teeth. He had dimples on his cheeks, and a really distinct collarbone and clean, wavy brown hair.

"Keith, I didn't know you were coming down! Lance meet Keith, my younger brother." Shiro grinned, motioning between them. "And Keith, this is Lance."

"Hi." Keith waved awkwardly. His heart pounded in his ears, mostly at anger at himself because _how could you be so dumb he's been talking to Shiro for half an hour and now he thinks you're an idiot who can't talk why the fuck_ -

"Keith? Keith Kogane?" Lance's brows furrowed as he subconsciously leaned forward on the counter.

"Uh, yes?" Keith wasn't sure how to take this twist. He flashed his eyes to Shiro who just gave a simple shrug.

"Dude! We're in Prof Coran's class together! I didn't know you had a brother!" Lance had a wide grin on his face, and Keith had a dumbfounded one on his.

"We… are?" What? Why had Keith not known about this? How hadn't he seen this boy before? Keith was 99% certain he would've noticed him.

"Yeah! You sit up front, so I guess it makes sense we never bumped into each other. I'm more of a middle-to-back kinda guy." Lance grinned, relaxing with his elbows on the counter.

"Oh." Keith wanted to punch himself. ' _Oh_ ,' that's it?

Lance didn't seem to mind Keith's poor socialization skills too much. In fact, Keith thought that Lance liked to hear himself talk. Shiro remained quiet, sipping coffee and silently watching the two.

Eventually, Keith gravitated forwards until he and Lance were both relaxing at the counter, Lance's coffee entirely forgotten.

When Keith commented on Lance's camera, it was like a floodgate broke. Lance rambled on about photography, about anything and everything to do with it. Keith didn't really understand most of it but the way Lance talked was soothing.

Lance's voice was like a drug.

The way it fluctuated every word, the way Keith could tell he was good at singing from just hearing it, the way it dripped on his ears like honey. Keith stared at Lance, at his lips form words, at his eyes dart around the shop to talk about lighting.

Keith noticed that he had freckles.

As if he couldn't get any more perfect.

When Keith thought that's where it had to stop, because really how could one person be so- curse you Shiro- _pretty_ , he saw his hands. They were elegant, his fingers long and slim, nails well-manicured. There were freckled there too.

Somehow, Keith hadn't read his sweater until now. It was purple-blue gradient and said "let bi-gones be bi-gones."

Lance rattled on until Shiro's watch beeped loudly, halting his train of thought.

"Oh man, it's about time to close up the shop." Both Lance and Keith tried not to look too afraid and disappointed, respectively. "You know, Lance, if you help water the plants I'm sure it'd be fine for you to keep waiting out the storm." Lance perked up immediately, and Keith let a wide grin settle on his face.

"Sure, yeah! Let me put my camera and lens here." Lance took it out, carefully placing them on the counter. Shiro grabbed a couple watering cans, letting Lance know what to do before he and Keith joined in.

The can was heavy but Lance was strong enough that it wasn't a problem. He was relieved that Shiro was letting him stay so long, but he wondered if he was troubling Keith? Usually people got annoyed when Lance first started talking to them about photography, and he'd forgotten to watch Keith to see how he felt.

Keith. If someone had told past-Lance that Shiro had a brother that was possibly the prettiest boy in the world, well… he might've believed them. Yeah, no, he definitely would. The genetics make sense.

He'd seen Keith around in class, but really only the back of his head. He'd never been less than three meters away from him, honestly. He was almost a little godlike. He had smooth, unblemished skin, and had really nice looking lips- not in a weird way or anything, they were just _nice_ \- and dark grey eyes that were like looking into smoke. His hair… well the guy had a mullet, but with a little of Lance's magic he'd be able to make it look good.

Lance was _really_ glad Shiro hadn't made him leave, honestly.

When they were all sitting upstairs, coffee mugs in the sink and sugar put away at last, Shiro told the boys to behave and that he was going to go do something.

Lance had no problem getting conversation out of Keith, a rare thing.

"It must be nice, having a quiet house. Love my family and all, but jeez they can be loud!" Keith figured that's how Lance turned out like this.

"Your kids?" Keith asked, and Lance choked on his own spit.

"Kids? Mine? _No_ , nononono! Where'd you hear that?" Lance blanched. Keith flushed in embarrassment, feeling his toes to ears heat up.

"I, uh, I heard you and Shiro right before I walked in. You were talking about 'your baby girl' Bella and, uh-"

"Oh! Oh man, nah, I call her that but she's my little niece. I have a really big family, and somewhere 'the' kids kinda become 'our' kids. Raised by a pack and all that." Lance was stammering, his own face red. Keith felt a little better.

"I, uh… sorry? About the misunderstanding." Keith scratched his neck, mind feeling to grasp at something to talk about now to change the subject.

"It's good, I can show you pictures of them if you want? My not-my-kids." Lance smiled, and Keith felt like a fish. Before, Lance had had charming grins, trying to be smooth, and wistful ones, talking about his passions, but this… this was just kind and warm and tender. Keith could only nod his head, and Lance moved over to squeeze in with him in the chair and really Keith didn't mind.

Lance pulled out his phone, sliding through an entire album dedicated to his family which Keith thought was tooth-rottingly sweet. There was an infinite amount of pictures, and Keith felt his eyes droop as he listened to Lance tell him about them and felt something on his head as he grinned and listened.

Lance took his time explaining everyone to Keith, who didn't seem to mind much. Lance had a lot of love for his family, and Keith seemed to have the ability to listen which was rare because only Hunk was patient enough for that. Eventually, Lance felt a weight on his shoulder and glanced down to see Keith's head resting there.

His cheeks hurt from how hard he smiled.

Shiro listened to music quietly in his room, watching as the rain drizzled to a slow stop. He wondered how the two were getting along and walked out to ask to find what looked like an empty living room at first.

Then he heard a small snore and looked in the big chair, finding the two boys with their eyes closed, small smiles on their faces.

 _I think they're getting along just fine_ , Shiro thought happily, leaving them to their own devices.


	2. Photos and Storms

Life was vivid. It was everywhere you looked, when you closed your eyes to blink or sleep life flittered behind your eyelids. When you were out in the ocean, life pushed and pulled on you and squished under your toes and brushed against your leg. Life filled dark alleys and bright restaurants. It was in stranger's postures when they read in cafes, in friends' eyes when they spoke.

Lance saw every aspect of life, or at least he liked to think he did.

Lance's life was photographing life happening.

Lance's life became photographing Keith.

Keith, who saw things from a "realistic" standpoint- aka "pessimistic." Keith, who used to sit in Coran's front row of seats and never take in his other classmates. Keith, who worked in a shop that smelled like spring and who smiled watering plants when he didn't know Lance had walked in.

Keith, who fell asleep on his shoulder and left a small spot of drool which, yeah, was a little disgusting but after Lance washed the shirt he found it actually really endearing.

-:-

Pidge and Hunk liked to make it quite known to Lance that they didn't agree at first when Lance suddenly pulled his camera out in class and zoomed in on Keith. It was justified, after all Lance hadn't explained just yet that he actually knew The Keith Kogane, the boy who sat in silence except to ask questions and left the room the second class was over.

To them, Lance was looking like a real fucking creep.

When Coran said goodbye to the group, Keith didn't beeline for the door. He stood up and gathered his things, and simply... stood.

He looked around, only spotting Lance's familiar face since the boy was slightly taller than those around him. Hunk felt a grin take over his face when he saw Lance waving to the boy, the dopey look in his best friend's eyes.

Pidge gave Lance a little more shit about it, the endearing little gremlin.

She waited until the trio were playing Super Smash Bros at Hunk's house, commenting that Keith was actually a giant fucking twerp. Lance snapped his head to her, appalled.

"Gotcha!" Pidge grinned, using the opportunity to throw Lance off the edge. "And now it's Hunk and me. Me 'n' Hunk." Hunk feared her tiny little smile.

"So much hate in such a small body." Hunk shivered in faux fear, the distraction letting Pidge get the upper hand and blast him to death. With her fifth victory in a row, Pidge decided it was about time for snacks.

"I wasn't kidding, though, Keith's actually not as cool as his mullet might make you think." Pidge grinned, glancing up at Lance.

"Oh do explain." Lance's grin mirrored hers. It didn't matter who, Lance would listen to shittalk about anyone. Except Hunk.

"My brother Matt? He's been pals with Shiro for a long time, and he used to tell me about Shiro's little brother, your darling Keith-"

"He's not m-"

"Shush now, never fear for I might impart my various tidbits of knowledge unto you." Pidge almost always had "knowledge" about people, either from other people or hacking- usually hacking- but Lance would take what he could get.

"Okay? I'm not sure how much this knowledge is worth to me, though..."

"Oh you drive a hard bargain. Shall we say... you buy my lunch tomorrow?" Pidge smirked as Lance mulled over it.

"Sure." Pidge pumped her fist into the air.

"Sweet!" Lance looked at her expectantly, munching away on his granola bar. "So what's your dirt?"

"Keith sucked his thumb until he was eight." Lance raised a brow, prompting her to go on. "He decorated his room with power rangers and ninja turtle posters until he was fourteen."

"So did my big sister Val, you gotta give me something better than that." Lance had his arms crossed, brow still arched.

"Hmm... one time Matt told me that when he first met Keith, the first thing he said to him was 'Does is Matt gay?'" Pidge shrugged, a final attempt to please Lance. And pleased he was.

"Did he really say- shit that's rich!" Lance cackled, and the more he pictured a two-foot tall Keith saying "Does is Matt gay?" the harder he wheezed.

"Okay Pidge that's enough embarrassing Keith when he's not even here." Hunk smiled, but she could tell he was every bit amused as Lance. "My mom made a samoan delicacy and this is how you treat it! Ignoring it!" Hunk threw his arms up, and at the sound of food that was the end of the roasting Keith session.

"Staring at your phone again?" Keith's ears were tinged pink.

"I'm not! I was checking twitter." Keith didn't even have a twitter. Shiro didn't say anything, just sipped his coffee with a grin.

Shiro wouldn't say it but he was worried for Keith, his lil bro, his buddy, baby brother. Ever since their parents died, Keith hadn't shown much interest in anything, anyone. It had been... hard.

Shiro was twenty-three and on active duty in the military. He put in for emergency leave the second he heard, but he could still only stay for so long.

Keith had been at taekwando practice, Shiro heard later, and had no idea anything was wrong until he checked his phone during a break and saw a few unknown missed calls.

It had been an accident, the hospital said, a stupid goddamn kid that wasn't watching the road and went over the double yellow. Just a kid. Keith was barely younger than him, shy of 16 himself. A fucking kid.

Keith didn't have anyone to blame for it when he stood by his brother at the funeral- the funeral Shiro had had to plan himself, no extended family kept in touch with them anymore. There were Shiro's friends, their parents' friends. Keith's few... friends? He wasn't sure.

There were three of them, two girls and a boy. The boy was a scrappy dude, pale as hell and smothered in moles and freckles, bright green eyes. His family moved from some no-name European city and he'd stuck to Keith since they were both outcasts.

One of the girls was a blonde, Keith couldn't remember much else. Before the accident, she'd made passes at him, all of which he awkwardly ignored, and it cooled off for a while after the accident. Not too long. When Shiro was gone and Keith was living in an apartment Shiro paid for, she started asking to hang out. Keith wasn't interested, and he was sure that even if she'd been a dude he wouldn't have looked twice. He told her one day to get the fuck out of his house, and she'd never come over again.

He heard that she and the other girl started fucking not long later. All Keith remembered about her was that she had been the nicest out of the three of them. She actually tried to help. She deserved better than that blonde.

When Shiro decided ten years was long enough a service, he came back home to Keith. He'd really only been back a couple months, bought the place they lived in now as a surprise for Keith.

Shiro was glad that Keith seemed... well, not happier but at least less sad and anxious all the time. He didn't have those three friends anymore, something Shiro was more than a little relieved by, and apparently made some new friends through Lance.

It made his heart swell to see Keith doing good again.

"What about you? Isn't your old pal Matt coming over?" Keith snorted, grinning when Shiro cleared his throat, his own ears turning pink now.

"Yes, he is. Do you wanna play scrabble with a couple of ol' farts or are you going to hang with someone? Maybe Lance?" Two could play at this game.

"You're not that old, I'm certain Matt doesn't think so."

"Oh ho? I wonder how old Lance thinks I am?" Shiro grinned slyly, and Keith flushed a dark shade of red.

"Probably fifty." Keith's eyes focused firmly on his phone, eyeing a text from Pidge.

_Pidge: wanna hang w me hunk and lance? it'll be fun_

Keith didn't know what Pidge's idea of fun was but it had to be better than either being teased by his brother or watching him helplessly figure out what flirting was- Keith didn't have a right to talk in that department.

_Hot Cheerio: sure just tell me where_

Pidge grinned, slapping Lance on the back.

"Told ya I'm a magician." She boasted, telling Keith to come to the park.

"Didn't doubt ya for a second Pidgey." Lance smiled, chuckling through the pain of Pidge punching him in the gut. It wasn't hard, her hands were too tiny.

"So? Where are we meeting him?" Hunk asked eagerly, ushering everyone to his car- well, his mom's car.

"Glacier Park." Pidge grinned, claiming the front seat as her own.

"Really? Even you might be a little tall for the playground equip- ow!" Lance rubbed his arm where she'd punched him.

"You'll thank me." At Pidge's claim and Lance's open mouth, Hunk cranked the volume to dissolve any forming arguments.

As they drove, Pidge and Hunk talked about a new app Hunk was almost done developing. They were both techie nerds, in Lance's humble opinion, but different. Pidge liked to focus on programming and stuff, hacking as Lance called it- _just because you don't understand coding doesn't mean you can dub it as hacking, Lance_ \- while Hunk liked designing things. He'd made models of buildings, new types of robots, and in his spare time made apps and games.

Hunk made a lot of money that way, not that he usually saw much of it. He put it towards his younger sister's college funds or snuck it into his mom's retirement- he knew she'd tell him to save it but he knew he'd be able to make more money later so he kept at it.

Lance liked to listen to his friends talk, even if he didn't always get it. Seeing them passionate about something was enough to keep him attentively listening, even if his mind wandered to Keith a few times.

Keith was at the park, sitting on the bed of his truck. He sipped on a cold soda and thought absently. Pidge hadn't really told him what they'd be doing at the park. They were a little big for some of the equipment, but what else was there to do?

He didn't have to ponder on it long, because Hunk's car pulled up a few sips into his drink.

"Hey man!" Lance grinned, first to clamber out. Keith waved back, hopping off his truck and pushing the end up.

"Keith what's up?" Hunk smiled warmly, Pidge coming around from the passenger side.

"Oh, you know, not much. Just wondering what a bunch of old kids are doing at a young kid park." Keith rolled his eyes, lips still tugged in a grin.

"Glad you mentioned it! This is not just any park, take a look around my good man, what do you see?" Pidge waved her arm around to emphasize.

"Um... People?" Keith didn't get what he was supposed to be looking at.

" _Dogs_ , dude!" Hunk smiled wide, eyes shining with excitement. Keith nodded, still a little confused.

"Hunk likes to go around to dog owners and pet their dogs." Lance supplied, and understanding came to Keith.

"Isn't that, like, weird?" Keith murmured to Lance, the two following after Pidge rather than Hunk.

"In a large group, yes, but people always without fail instinctively trust Hunk. That's why me and Pidge have always just gone down the trail." Lance shrugged, watching as Pidge bent down to look at a rock. Keith had to agree with Lance, even he had looked at Hunk and immediately felt warmer and calm.

"I found one! A perfect rock!" Pidge held it up. The trail behind the park went on for about a mile, a creek flowing through it. What Pidge held was, in fact, the epitome of a perfect river rock.

"I'm impressed, it hasn't even been five minutes. Is this a new record for you?" Lance laughed, clapping her on the back.

"I think so, now I'm gonna aim for 'most perfect-rocks found' in a single day." Pidge grinned. She used to hate the outdoors, but after spending a two-week summer camp out in the woods, one of her counselors had awakened something inside her that bloomed into an endless curiosity for nature.

Lance's easygoing smile never left his face, it seemed. Keith watched as Lance turned his camera on and focused it on Pidge. Lance was a one-and-done kinda guy. He took a picture only when it lined up the way he wanted it to, and after each one he'd glance at the screen and examine it before moving on.

Keith liked to watch Lance's hands holding the camera. He liked the smile of satisfaction Lance had after particularly beautiful shots. He liked Lance's laugh when Pidge found her seventh perfect river stone.

Lance liked the way Pidge looked through his lens. She had a really androgynous aesthetic that was intriguing to look at, and she also did really dumb things that he liked to get records of- like sneaking up on a frog and not being able to catch it, only quitting when she could no longer find it in the stream because she'd clouded the water up with dirt.

What Lance liked more than taking photos of Pidge was taking photos of Keith. He was pretty, he had a soft face and his mullet was pulled into a pony tail and he was just... just so goddamn good.

Lance felt like he won the lottery when he remembered how Keith fell asleep on them, and how after that day he'd hung out with Keith and their fingers brushed. Once he and Keith had stayed up until 3 am talking about literally fucking memes. If Lance could do it again he'd have another cup of coffee so he wouldn't fall asleep on the line like he had.

Keith would look at birds and point them out, and Lance took the slim opportunities to get bursts. Lance's favorite so far was a burst of Keith pointing up at a bird in a tree and looking to Lance, frowning when he saw the camera pointed at him.

The burst eventually came second to a shot of Keith smiling fondly next to Lance, almost a complete profile, gazing down at a toad.

"If you kiss it maybe you'll get a princess." Lance laughed at him, and Keith's face heated.

"Prince." His tone made it sound almost like a question and his voice almost cracked, but Lance got the picture.

"Well, he can't be better than me so maybe the wildlife should be left alone." Lance covered, and Pidge rolled her eyes at his attempt at a smooth recovery. If she had to compare it on the smooth-o-meter, he'd just laid down a fresh gravel road on winding back roads.

Keith and the Toad eventually tied with a picture Lance miraculously got of Pidge falling into the stream, only she was mid fall and halfway between smiling at the little froggy and terrified at the fact that she was falling face-first into a freezing cold stream.

Pidge had tried to blackmail him into deleting it but Lance wouldn't budge. Pidge spilled the beans about how Lance slept in his big brother's bed until he was nine because of scary dreams. She also told Keith about how Lance's first kiss in the first grade had been stolen by a girl named Patty and how Lance had told Hunk that same day, devastated that no one would ever marry him now.

Lance was determined to not let this picture go.

"You can't embarrass me, Pidge. I embarrass myself!" Lance grinned, holding the camera firmly to his chest.

"Well you're not wrong there." Pidge rolled her eyes, and Keith chuckled in response, having barely held in his laughter the whole time. Now it bubbled up from his stomach, building until he held his stomach and wiped tears from his eyes.

Lance unconsciously raised his camera and snapped a picture of Keith full out laughing. This one would become Lance's number one pick of the day. It was a little blurry because Lance's hands had been shaking and he hadn't actually looked, but it was a fun blur and Keith looked...

To be blunt Keith looked a little like a hot mess, but Lance really wouldn't trade it for the world. His smile was wider than Lance had ever seen, and his ready eyes were looking down at Pidge as if to thank her- it occurred to Lance that maybe he should thank her- and his hair framed his face in a way that made him look downright beautiful.

They met up with Hunk later, and he told her about some of the dogs he'd met. He'd met a man with a big golden retriever, and when if Hunk asked how nice she was- she was huge okay, like scary big for such a sweet creature- the owner had smiled and put a boiled egg in her mouth. The egg sat gently between her front teeth and she looked like she was smiling up at Hunk. He fell in love.

"What about the owner? She nice?" Lance asked, looking around for a girl with a giant dog.

"Oh, she left. But I told her about my dog and she said we could have a doggy-date sometime! I got her number." Hunk smiled, his eyes half-lidded when he mentioned the word "date."

"Oooooh! My boy Hunk got some game!" Lance grinned wide, poking his friend's side.

"Yeah he does! What's her name?" Pidge asked excitedly, happy for her friend.

"Shay." Hunk sighed, leaning against the wheel lightly.

Pidge whistled, watching from the corner of her eye as Lance went through some of his photos. Keith watched beside him, an arm supporting his weight behind Lance as he leaned part of his chest and shoulder on Lance, who not only didn't mind but leaned into the touch. Hunk wasn't the only one with game.

"Hey Hunk, wanna ditch these losers for some quality nerd-time?" Pidge grinned, and Hunk glanced over at the two who hadn't heard.

"I see what you're doing, and I approve." Hunk nodded, fishing his keys out. This finally caught Lance's attention.

"Hey, buddy, we leaving?" He asked, popping the lid on his lens.

"We," Hunk motioned between himself and Pidge, "are. Gonna design robotic schematics and maybe test-run some rough softwares, boring stuff. Have fun!" Hunk smiled, and Lance got to his feet as he and Pidge beelined and locked themselves in his car.

"What? Hey, dude, c'mon you can't just abandon me! You didn't even tell me about your date! Or other dogs? Hey, Hunk!" Lance's arguments got him nowhere except close to a flat foot from Hunk's tire.

"Do they... always leave?" Keith felt his palms sweat.

"No... they don't." Lance sounded almost betrayed, and Keith didn't know if he should be relieved Lance hadn't planned this or happy he was alone with Lance or-

"Y'know what, fuck that we're gonna have a bomb ass time and they'll be sorry they decided to be nerds instead of have fun." Lance huffed, arms crossed. Keith decided he'd just be glad to hang out with Lance.

"Doing... what?" Lance thought about it for a second.

"Well the park was planned by Pidge, and by extension me I guess, so I guess it's up to you. What do you like?" Lance looked at him with such genuine, honest eyes and Keith felt another wall come crumbling down.

"I don't... do a lot? We could walk downtown and get lunch?" It was the best Keith could offer and Lance would take it.

"You drive, I'll handle the rest. We will have a fun day today, no matter what!" Lance's voice rose, eyes shining as he helped Keith to his feet. Then he saw how few kids there were on the playground equipment.

"We'll go right after some exercise." Lance smiled, tugging Keith by the hand. They battled to see who could swing higher- a tie, a very dangerous tie- and who the ultimate ninja warrior was on the wheel monkey bars- Keith- and finally who could handle he most spinnage on the sitting-spinning things- Lance.

The tie breaker was who could win at the tic-tac-toe shark VS hippo edition. Lance claimed ultimate victory there.

Keith just smiled and shook his head, finally convincing Lance to get in the car with Keith providing music. Keith, as Lance found out, was one of those rare anomalies who said their favorite band was Maroon 5. Lance didn't believe it.

"That's weird how?"

"I don't know. No shade to Maroon 5, they're great. They've had tons of songs hit the top 40 or even top 10, and they're, like, one of the most-played bands on the radio. But no one ever says 'yeah my favorite band is definitely Maroon 5.' They're just... no ones favorite." Lance was very passionate about bands that were no ones top choice but should be. Hell, that said Maroon 5 still wasn't Lance's favorite band, or even on of his top 10 favorites, no matter how many timeless classics they produced.

"But I just said they're my favorite band?" Keith wouldn't believe that more people didn't consider Maroon 5 they're favorite.

"Think about it like this. I ask you, hey Keith what's your favorite band or artist? In the whole world?"

"Maroon 5?" Keith didn't understand where Lance was trying to go with this.

"Even if we weren't listening to it right now and having this discussion? Would you still automatically pick them?" Keith... had no words. Would he?

"I... no?" Lance didn't even feel smug, just sorry for the band whose songs would forever live in billions of people's hearts but never be considered anyone's "favorite."

Keith could only wonder why Lance had to make him see this truth.

-:-

Sightseeing in the downtown area was about as fun as Lance had expected it to be. Which is, to say, _very fun_.

They went into pawn shops and thrift stores, Lance buying a few pretty shirts and shorts and a pair of ugly sunglasses that folded up four times into a little two-inch long clump of lens of metal. Lance took pictures of Keith quietly, making sure his camera's shutter sound was quiet so it was candid.

He loved those little random moments of Keith's life that were boring but thrilling. Keith burning his tongue on coffee in a little cafe. Keith poking at a realistic faux ferret scarf with disgust. Keith looking at Lance angrily wearing the four-fold glasses that barely fit over the bridge of his nose because they were from the '80s and meant for kids.

For a while he'd let Keith hold onto his camera, letting him do whatever he wanted.

Keith had been nervous when he asked, thankful he didn't stutter or sweat. He wasn't sure how Lance would react, but he felt like it was unfair for Lance to not get to see himself. He took so many photos of others that he wasn't really in any, and Keith felt like that was a goddamn shame.

Lance had simply socked his head to the side and told him to be careful. He explained the different settings to Keith and then sent him on his merry way. He took so practice shots of random things- bugs, birds, people, art- and then tried doing Lance.

It was surprisingly difficult. They'd always be blurry or look not-quite-right. Then he remembered how Lance always seemed to stare for a few seconds before committing so Keith gave it a shot. When they were walking down the street, Lance pointing at this or that, Keith steadied the camera on him and tried waiting.

Lance turned to ask him a question and Keith committed. When he glanced at it, he felt a small smile form on his face. It wasn't as good as Lance's, but it wasn't as bad as his attempts earlier.

Lance looked... _fuck_. He looked a lot like how Keith viewed him, which is, to say, beautiful. An animated smile was on his face, barely-visible freckles lining the tan expanse of skin. He was just bright somehow, shining.

Keith realized Lance wasn't talking anymore and glanced up, taking in the small smile on his lips- _his lips_ \- and the warmth in his eyes- they were so bright blue and _god_.

"Sound like a plan?" Lance asked, and Keith became aware of how unaware Lance was to his internal pining.

"Sorry, what?" Keith asked, ears turning pink and Keith was just thankful his hair was long enough to cover them.

"Wanna head back to your place for lunch? Dinner? I'm not really sure." Lance admitted, having lost track of time. All he knew was that the day couldn't be long enough.

"Sure, Shiro always makes a ton of extra." Keith nodded, the two heading over to his street.

-:-

Shiro did, in fact, make a ton of leftovers. However, Lance was not the only person staying over for dinner. He really wanted to know if he was the only one who found this a little awkward, because the other three were totally casual.

When Keith had opened the door to the apartment above the shop, he and Lance saw Matt and Shiro in what was almost an awkward situation. Thankfully they'd gotten there just in time, the two simply sitting on the couch, very, _very_ close.

Lance watched as everyone moved past it quickly enough, feeling like he was the only one with the "close call clammy hands." He did pick up on a lot of little details while they waited for Shiro to cook dinner.

Matt was dating Shiro, and apparently the two went way back but only confessed within the past year. They'd met in their sophomore year, and Matt thought Shiro was, in his own words, "either the kind of jock that helped stray kittens, or the absolute biggest asshole on the planet who would sneak into your house and egg your bed."

While they waited Lance felt himself relax a little more, slowly gravitating towards Keith. He didn't even realize he was doing it until his body was flush with Keith's. Keith didn't mind a bit, resting his chin on Lance's shoulder.

Matt grinned at the two, getting up and saying he'd help Shiro with the food. He didn't really intend on helping so much as cooing about how the pair and seeing how Shiro reacted. He didn't react, already knowing how close the two were, or at least how close they'd get.

Neither Keith nor Lance thought much about the kitchen or dinner or about how weird the situation had been earlier, because to them the kitchen was as good as another planet and the situation was perfect.

-:-

Lance being at the house got to Pidge, of course, which then got to Hunk, and back to Lance.

_Hercules? HUNKules!: dude you're hanging out w Keith? In his home? The place of his residence ?_

_Pidgeon: he is!!! Lance keep it PG don't give my brother any ideas_

Lance snickered, drawing Keith's attention to the phone.

"Look at them! You'd think I'm their kid or something." Lance sighed jokingly, getting a chuckle out of Keith.

_Hercules? HUNKules!: make sure ur both safe_

_Pidgeon: the teen pregnancy rates have been dropping don't mess w the numbers kids_

_Hercules? HUNKules!: pidge! they'd never!_

Lance shook with silent laughter, a smirk on his face.

_Lancelot: srry can't hear u over the sound of irresponsible choices_

_Pidgeon: damn boy getit_

_Pidgeon: wait did u two actually just fuck_

_Hercules? HUNKules!: pidge no_

Lance froze, laughter dead in his throat. He glanced at Keith, cheeks pink, who seemed unaffected by Pidge's text. Keith's eyes remained on the phone, his ears darkening. Lance glanced back and, oh shit.

_Pidgeon: I know u two like each other a lot, I wouldn't really be surprised_

_Hercules? HUNKulese!: I really wanna be the good mom-friend but at this point I can't stop the truth_

_Pidgeon: those two! are so ! frustrating!!!! Look_

Pidge sent a picture she'd taken when Keith and Lance hadn't been looking, too busy eyeing each other and laughing at one of Lance's stupid jokes probably.

_Pidgeon: but will they just say hey you're cute? no, they'll stay like this until they're old men and be miserable until then and we'll have to just watch, Hunk, watch them for all those years_

_Hercules? HUNKules!: aren't you just projecting Matt's life onto yours?_

_Pidgeon: maybe,,_

When Lance glanced back at Keith, he was bright red.

"Um, I, uh-" Lance shut his mouth, face equally as red.

"Yeah." Keith didn't know what exactly he was agreeing with, but he agreed.

"Dinner's up!" Shiro hollered, and the two stiffly got up to get their plates. At least part of the night hadn't been awkward.

-:-

Almost a week went by before Lance finally set up a day for he and Keith to hang out. Pidge and Hunk had kinda outed both of their feelings- Lance hoped that Keith felt the same way, because, god, when Lance looked at him he felt high- so Lance didn't want Keith to feel like he was pushing or anything.

In that week, Keith had convinced himself that, no, Pidge and Hunk were _wrong_ and the fact that Lance wanted nothing to do with him was proof. Then Lance asked to meet him at the cafe they'd gone to when they'd first hung out, and Keith knew that today was the day Lance said that he was done.

Keith was closer and didn't really think about the times, so he was there ten minutes before Lance. He nibbled on a muffin absentmindedly and drank whatever hot tea he'd ordered, he couldn't remember for the life of him.

When Lance walked in, all Keith could think was _fuck_. Lance looked better than usual, and Keith couldn't quite figure out what it was. The "suns out guns out" tank he was wearing? He had really nice arms. His hair wasn't styled, free of any product, and curled and waved in a really nice way.

Lance didn't noticed Keith checking him out because he was too busy doing the same.

Keith didn't look as edgy as he normally did, no fingerless gloves, no dark jeans. In fact, Lance didn't see any black on him. He was in regular blue jeans stained with dirt and a loose tee. His hair was pulled up into a pony tail, and Lance thought about how good that looked, almost flying to the floor when he didn't step up the little step in the floor.

"Hey man," Lance started, not sure when it how he was supposed to do this. Sure, he'd dated people in the past but they'd all just been fun, he hadn't felt clammy and nervous and excited just thinking about seeing them. He hadn't felt warm at just leaning against them on a couch. He didn't make them the subject for nearly all of his shots when they were on dates.

"If this is about what Pidge said it's okay. You can forget it." Keith rushed out, and Lance froze in his seat.

"I can… what?" This was not how Lance had rehearsed it. He also hadn't planned on tripping, but he'd rather knock himself unconscious falling on the floor in the lamest way than have Keith actually be shutting him down.

"Forget it. I, uh, I don't want to go out with you or anything." _I'm happy just being able to be your friend, don't hate me_ was what Keith couldn't get out.

"I…" Well, fuck. Lance felt like Keith had actually just punched him in the stomach. Like he'd taken his gloveless hands and was wringing them around his throat.

Then Lance saw how stiff Keith was, how scared and hurt he looked, and Lance couldn't sit there and let Keith do that.

"I like you. A lot." Lance hoped he wasn't wrong. When Keith took a shaky breath, a few tears leaking from his eyes, Lance had an internal meltdown. "Are you okay? Was I wrong to say that because we c-"

"No, no, it's fine. I was just… really stressed. And scared. I'm… I like you, too. _A lot_." Keith smiled, and Lance beamed. His cheeks ached and he felt so warm inside he wondered briefly if he was overheating and he kinda felt like puking but in the best way.

"That's good to hear." Lance laughed, and Keith smiled back, just as happy. His head felt fuzzy from the blood rushing in his body, his heart thumping like a rock against his ribs. It wasn't even fast, just a very intense _thud-thud_.

"So, wanna go into the thrift store with the cats?" Lance grinned, and Keith swooned. Lance knew him too well.

"Yeah." Keith but his lip, extending a hand to Lance. Lance grabbed it and held on like his life depended on it- it kinda did because he felt a little dizzy at the reality of dating Keith, holding Keith's hand, going to pet cats with _his-boyfriend-Keith._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the sequel! It had a different vibe than the first one but it is what it is ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> And Yes the maroon 5 debate was inspired by Shane Dawson's conspiracy theory video, but like I've been thinking about this for days I can't stop now that my eyes have been opened to this kinda truth dude!

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if I'll continue this or not so right now it's posted as a one shot so let me know if there should be a sequel!


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